Can You Imagine … Boundless Love?
Easter 6B
May 9, 2021
Grace, Waseca, MN
Acts 10.44-48; John 15.9-17
American humorist and author Mark Twain once said, “It ain't those parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand [that bother me].” At first glance, our First Reading from Acts 10 and our Gospel from John 15 don’t seem bothersome. Gentiles (non-Jews like us) receive the Holy Spirit and get baptized and Jesus tells us to love as he did. However, as we ask the great Lutheran question, “What does this mean?” we may get a bit squirmy.
Two weeks ago, I asserted that Acts doesn’t give us a blueprint of what the church should be for all time, but rather opens up our imaginations about what an Easter-resurrection community can look like today. The disciples (now apostles) were making it up as they went along, building the church on the fly, all powered by the Holy Spirit. Today’s reading in chapter 10 is the penultimate scene in a longer drama. The Gentile Cornelius, a God-fearer, has a vision telling him to send for Peter to hear more about God. While his ambassadors are en route, Peter has his own vision. He is hungry and sees a vision telling him to eat animals that to the Jewish people are unclean. Peter protests, but is told that nothing God makes is unclean. Cornelius’ ambassadors arrive and convince Peter to go. Cornelius and his household, hears the story of Jesus and while Peter is still speaking, the Holy Spirit pours out upon them.
Now, we need to pause a moment to realize that this is a big deal. Jews are not supposed to have contact with Gentiles. Period. And this wasn’t just any Gentile; Cornelius was Roman centurion, a member of the occupying force, hated by all Jewish people. Besides, the Jews were God’s chosen people who would eventually lead Gentiles to God at the end of time not now. But then Peter really does it: he stays with them which means he eats with them. These acts lead Peter to be called in front of the synod’s committee on discipline to explain this outrageous behavior.
Peter’s defense is a good one: “Hey, this was the same Holy Spirit we received and who am I to hinder God.” I can’t help but wonder if Jesus’ words at the Last Supper echoed in Peter’s brain: “Love as I have first loved you.” John 15 also gives us a snippet of a larger story, the Farewell Discourse, Jesus’ last words to his disciples, one that begins with the washing of the disciples’ feet. Jesus is about to be crucified and gives them both words of comfort but also a missional charge to love has loved them. Now, what both amazes and terrifies us is Jesus actually believes we can love self-sacrificially as he does.
This is hard for us, because the terror comes in being blown outside our comfort zones. In our heads we agree that God’s love is for everyone and we are to follow Jesus’ example. Yet, when faced with the reality of embracing someone or some idea different we freeze. In seminary I learned that the Christian is supposed to go is that baptism comes before receiving Communion. Somewhere along the way a colleague suggested that it could be the other way around, that Holy Communion might be the gateway to baptism. My initial thought was, “Heresy!” That is, until the Holy Spirit blew Chi Wan into my congregation, who took seriously the invitation to the table that “All are welcome.” Eventually I learned that she was a seeker who had never been baptized but now wanted to do so. Acts shows us there’s no one pattern for baptism. It also shows us that our principles change when confronted with real people such as Cornelius and Chi Wan.
Right about now, some of you may be thinking, “But what about …?” Another colleague has reminded me that when you add the word “but” to the gospel you undercut its power. I would gently ask what you are afraid of, what are you holding onto that you are afraid to let go of, what scares you about boundless love? This sacrificial love doesn’t mean anything goes in the church, but far more goes than what we might think. We need to remember it’s not our job to change people or force them to change. Our job is like Peter’s, to show God’s love through Jesus Christ crucified and risen, to provide a space where people can engage in a living, loving relationship with God, and to look for where the Holy Spirit is blowing in our church.
So, my sisters and brothers in Christ, can Grace imagine itself as a community formed by the Holy Spirit and blown by the Holy Spirit? Can Grace imagine itself as a community that practices boundless love, that is, love without boundaries? Can Grace imagine itself as a place where it lives into its claim that “all are welcome?” Can Grace imagine itself being a place where God is expected to do the unexpected, where Grace can frequently say, “There goes God again!” and go along for the Holy Spirit ride? Finally, can Grace be a place bothered enough about the parts of the Bible that it does understand that it’s open to being changed by that same Holy Spirit? I think so, because I see it happening already. Thanks be to God. Amen.
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